we might actually have printed over 200 absent hurricane sandy. i would argue the trends is getting better. as jim pointed out, we need some clarity on the outlook, and the cliff is very important. if we go off the cliff, even if that number had been 250, the numbers still would weaken next year. >> jim, you have to make money in the meantime. where do you put your money? where are you putting money to work right now? >> well, i'm pessimistic. i share austin's view that i think we're going to go off the cliff and push this thing to february with the debt ceiling bill. as that reality comes in, the market is going to continue to struggle. i would avoid risky assets right now. i'd play something safe. play treasuries because you're not going to lose money on them. i'd play gold. i wouldn't be betting on that we're going to have a fix in place in the next 24 days that's going to lead to a big rebounds. >> all right. hang on one second, guys. we want to bring in and get your reaction to this rather surprising story that our phil lebeau has from illino